When in Rome
by FangirlingTooHard
Summary: Annabeth, Piper, Hazel, Sofie Milos and Monica Paros are the servants of a woman legionnaire. Inspired by Mali, the girls enter the annual Plebeian to Legionnaire competition and are accepted... as boys. However, the forces of Atlas threaten to take over Rome. Under the command of Reyna, can the girls, Percy, Jason, Nico, Frank and Leo help Calypso stop her father? T for Romance.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi! This is our third actual story... CONSTRUCTIVE LLAMAS**

Llamas? Don't you mean unicorns..?

**Oh, sorry, I mean CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM! YAY!**

Oh, yeah... We like that almost as much as unicorns** AND CATS**

_**Also, we know that some of our story does not match actually ancient Rome, so deal with it, because it is fitted to make the story work.**_

**The summary space didn't include enough room for the pairings, so they are:**

**Percabeth  
Jasper  
Frazel  
Caleo**

**Disclaimer: We are probably horned mythical animals that fly into the sunset... Not Rick Riordan (who owns PJO, if you didn't get the memo)**

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Chapter 1

Day 1

"Why can only Noble Women be legionnaires? Why? Oh, yeah, the plebeian worker girls are apparently 'not worthy enough'." Sofie moaned to Monica and Hazel, finishing up the hot plate of food.

"And yet, the plebeian men are," Monica replied, setting the table for Mali, woman legionnaire for Rome.

"And you would think plebeian girls could enter, what with Reyna being Praetor," Sofie added, placing the meal on the table.

"You know the Senate wouldn't allow that, what with the word of Mars and 'tradition' and all that," Hazel replied.

"So! We would be really good legionnaires!" Sofie, shouted, attracting the attention of Annabeth and Piper, who are in the entry room to let Mali in.

"Girls, quiet, Mali is almost here," Piper scolded, opening the door.

"Hello girls. Thank you for my food, you are free to go," Mali stated, regally.

"Yes, Mali," The girls responded, backing out the door to the servants quarters.

"Let's practice," Annabeth suggested.

"Could you help me with my dagger strategies? I'm really bad at it," Sofie asked Annabeth.

"Sure. Could you show me that internal stuff you learned when you were with the monks?" Annabeth responded.

"I'll try, it's really hard to teach, and very confusing," Sofie replied, grabbing a dagger.

"Oh, and Hazel, could you help me with cavalry?" Monica asked. "I just get terrified of those big beasts with giant teeth and hooves that could squash me like me a bug." She shivered.

"Yeah, of course," said Hazel. "But it's not the horses you should be scared of, it's the people on them. Horses themselves aren't bloodthirsty, they're just doing what they're told. Only warhorses would purposely hurt you."

Monica huffed. She hated having her fears being called irrational. Her accentuation becomes sharper and her mouth thinner. "Except the horses I may or may not be fighting against _are _warhorses who have been trained to crush my skull if they find the opportunity. I sincerely doubt that your reassurance of 'they're just trained this way' will somehow help me from being trampled!"_  
_

"Whoa, Monica," Annabeth soothed. "Hazel's just trying to help. Are you okay? You not normally this snippy."

Monica shook her head. "Sorry, Hazel, Annabeth, it's just that... It's just so frustrating!" she burst out. "Why? Why can't we join? We are just as good or better than the men! And why just noble women? It's not our fault we aren't rich or important! It's prejudiced and unfair! If-if we had just been born as boys then maybe we could pursue our dreams!" Monica's eyes were shining with unshed tears.

The other girls were stunned. Monica never had emotional outbursts like this, normally it was Sofie who started flipping out and ranting. And here she was with two in one day.

Sofie put her arm around Monica. "We all feel the same way," she said quietly. Monica sniffed and nodded.

"Wait..." Annabeth's mind was churning. "What if we _were_ boys?"

"What?" Hazel stared at Annabeth.

"What if everybody thought we were boys?" Annabeth's voice rose in volume as she gained more confidence. "If we were boys, no one would have a problem with us!"

"Except we're girls," Piper felt inclined to point out.

"Oh!" Monica exclaimed. "that's clever, but so annoyingly simple! How did I not think of that?"

"Okay, stop being so smarty-pants on us! What are you two scheming up now?" asked Hazel.

Monica gestured at Annabeth. "It was your idea."

Annabeth grinned. "So, as Monica said earlier, we would be fine if we were boys. We've got the talent and determination. So, what if we disguise ourselves as boys and enter the competition this year?"

The girls started talking as soon as she finished.

"No way that'll work!"

"We may as well try to fly."

"Reyna's not an idiot! She'll figure it out!"

"If we get caught, we're dead! Literally!"

"It's not that hard..." Sofie mused

"Calm down," said Annabeth. "We won't get caught. And IF we do, they wouldn't kill us. Have some faith. This could mean a new future for us!"

"I don't know, Annabeth," said Hazel. "It still seems awfully risky. We'd need some help. On our own we'd never be able to get in."

"It's really not that hard," Sofie says, fingering her abnormally short, brown hair.

"What do you mean 'it's not that hard', Sofie?" Piper asked, looking at her with interest.

"Did I fail to mention I had to be a boy to stay with the monks?" Sofie asked, pondering her lack of information in her back story.

"Um... Yeah..." Hazel replied.

"Oh yeah! You told me about that a while ago, when you first came to Rome, your hair was a boy's length," Monica remembered, pulling Sofie's chin lenght hair as if to make it grow faster.

"Sorry about that. So, it's really not that hard. Either you cut your hair short or hide it under a helmet, it still has to be short though. You have to focus on lowering your voice and not walk with as much agility and grace you walk with. Be more rooted and strong." Sofie informed the other girls.

"Girls!" Mali called from inside.

"Coming Mali!" The girls called back, walking back inside the house.

"I got new armour from the forges today. Please polish the new pieces, and, if the old pieces fit one of you, you may take them," Mali instructs, a knowing look in her eye.

"Yes Mali," The girls responded, rushing to Mali's armoury.

"Okay, who gets the armour," Annabeth asked.

"Whoever it fits," Sofie replied, pulling the helmet over her head.

"Yeah, it doesn't fit you, Sofie" Monica replied, taking it off Sofie's head and putting it on her own. "It doesn't fit me either, that means I'll have to cut my hair,"

"Oh well, it probably won't fit any of us 13 year olds," Hazel replied, passing the helmet over to Piper.

"Piper, does it fit?" The girls asked, looking at the helmeted girl intently.

"Not quite, you try Annabeth," Piper responded, handing it over to Annabeth.

"It fits," Annabeth replied, pulling the helmet off her blonde princess curls.

"That's probably good, Annabeth has the most 'feminine' hair out of us all, even if she cut it, it would still look girly" Monica commented, tugging on Annabeths curl to make it go _Boing!_

"Let's get polishing," Hazel said, grabbing Mali's new chest plate.

* * *

**And that was all. Sorry about the not very special title. **

**CONSTRUCTIVE WHALE SAUCE!**

Criticism...** Oh, yeah! Constructive** **Criticism! **How do we keep messing this up? **I'm not messing up, I'm just spouting bananas! ** Nonsense...  **Not, it's is not nonsense, it makes plenty of sense.**


	2. Chapter 2

**CoNsTrUcTiVe CrItIcIsM! **How are you talking like that? **MaGiC!**

**DisclaimerR: If I owned PJO, I would probably be dead. ** How does that have anything to do with anything? **Well, I would have been murdered by all the people at the Camps for telling their secrets...** What about Rick Riordan, he actually owns PJO. **He's just lucky... I am not.**

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Chapter 2

Day 1

"Do you think this is polished enough?" Hazel asked, presenting the chest plate to the other girls.

"Ooh! Shiny!" Sofie replied, finishing up one of the greaves and holding it out to the others. "How's this?"

"Fine, I'm pretty sure all the pieces are fine," Piper says, placing the other greave onto Mali's armor stand.

"I'll get the cutting dagger, then!" Sofie announced, putting the other greave on the stand.

"What?" Annabeth asked, placing Mali's old helmet over her curls.

"Remember, we're cutting our hair?" Monica answered for Sofie, "I'll go first,"

"Actually, I'll just give myself a little trim..." Sofie replied, drifting off at the end whilst putting the dagger to her hair, a slightly maniacal expression on her face.

"I'll do that for you. You're definitely not to be trusted with sharp objects," Piper said, trimming Sofie's already short hair.

"And yet, you let me swing swords at your faces," Sofie jokingly replied, but still looking slightly hurt at her hair-cutting privileges being taken away. After Piper cut everybodies hair, the girls took turns looking into the mirror.

"I hate to admit this, but I think you might have done a better job than I would have... Maybe..." Sofie commented, looking at the girls short hair with a false judgemental look while stroking an imaginary beard.

"Thanks," Piper replied, statistically. "Annabeth, can you cut my hair now?"

"Sure," Annabeth said, taking the dagger and putting it up to the ends of Piper's hair. Once Piper's hair was cut, everyone looked over at Sofie, who had been oddly quiet. Being Sofie, she had taken some old scraps of cloth and made a boys tunic, without any sewing involved, which she was modelling over her girl tunic.

"How beautiful am I?" Sofie says in a false conceited voice.

"Lovely..." Monica replied**,** a sarcastic blade digging into Sofie's false conceitedness.

"I know!" Sofie replied, still with a false conceited voice.

"Anyway... We should make tunics like Sofie was modelling and then we can sign up tomorrow or something," Hazel commented, helping Sofie take the boy tunic off, which she had managed to get tangled in.

Monica stared down at the sewing needle in her hand. "I have no idea what I'm doing with this."

Hazel took pity on her and began to teach her how to properly thread a needle. Annabeth and Sofie began their own tunics, Sofie's original one already in shambles.

"Can I add flowers?" Sofie asked within 30 seconds.

"No," answered Annabeth.

"What about frills?"

"No."

"What about-"

"No! Sofie, we're supposed to be teenage boys! It will kind of be a giveaway if one of us has glitter and unicorns on her clothes!"

"Hmph." Sofie frowns, jabbing her needle into the fabric.

"We also need to start acting like boys," Monica added. "Sofie, you might not want to talk much. You sound much, much too girly."

"I can sound like a boy!" Sofie protests. She starts talking in a deep voice. "I'm stupid. I'm gunna go beat up somebody."

"Nice try." Monica rolled her eyes.

"You're nice," Sofie said, her own blade of sarcasm digging into Monica.

Annabeth took her try. "Hey, how's it goin'? I read this really good book-"

"Annabeth," Monica interrupts. "No books."

"What about 'Hey. D'you know the new guy?'" Hazel said.

"Yes." Monica nodded. "It's unimportant and casual. It says nothing about us and yet we're still friendly. Everything we say needs to be like that. Got it, Sofie?"

"No, 'cause I was completely ignoring you!"

Annabeth sighed. "You really need to stop doing anything like that..."

"Yes mother." Sofie smiled innocently, then slightly ruined it by pricking her finger with the needle. "Ow," she whined, sucking on the wound.

Hazel held up her completed tunic. "I'm done!" she said happily.

"You know what... I'm going to put this blood to good use!" Sofie shouted, maniacally enthusiastic.

"She's not doing what I think she's doing..." Piper said, worried.

"Oh... Yes she is..." Annabeth replied, watching as Sofie squeezed the blood from her finger and tried to stain her tunic.

"I am not bleeding enough... Annabeth, can you hand me your dagger?" Sofie asked, taking on the innocent voice again.

"NO!" All the girls shouted at Sofie, who began to fake whimper in sadness.

"But this needs to be beautiful..." Sofie whined, "Which means it needs to be bloody!"

"This girl needs therapy," Piper commented to Annabeth.

"I'm pretty sure anybody who tries to be therapeutic with me will become mentally disturbed," Sofie stated, moving on to mud to stain her tunic with.

"You're going to have to wash that," Monica stated.

"Then I will dye it blue! BLUUUE!" Sofie shouted. Honestly, the only thing you could expect from this girl was the unexpected.

"Does anybody have anything that will shut this girl up?" Annabeth asked, shouting at the sky.

"That's not nice," Sofie said, putting a pouting lip out.

"I thought we were working on not talking," Hazel said.

"I already did that, from age 4 to age 12. I need to talk for all that I missed out on," Sofie said, then turning to the wall to talk to it, "You'll listen to me, right wall?"

"Ooooh-kaaay... Moooving oooon..." Monica said, drawing out her words. Still eyeing Sofie, who seemed to be having a lovely conversation about different ways to draw blood without anything sharp with the wall.

"Note to Self: Do not become mentally disturbed," Monica commented to herself.

"YOU'RE ALREADY THERE!" Sofie shouted, still conversing with the wall.

Hazel snuck a glance at Sofie's tunic and smiled helplessly. It was covered in swirls and designs made of blood and mud. She could see a trident, an owl, a pair of horns... It was really quite entrancing. But if Sofie wore it she'd never pass for a boy. Hazel quietly began another tunic to force onto Sofie tomorrow.

* * *

**If you didn't guess, Sofie is SM... **And Monica is MP! Yeah, SM is really that crazy in real life.  **Look who's talking! You're just as crazy as I am... No... I'm crazier and I take pride in that. I WILL NOT BE TOPPLED FROM MY THRONE OF INSANITY!****  
**

Yeah, SM just kinda ran off like the crazy person she is... So I'm here to give you the end notes... CONSTRUCTIVE-**  
**

**LLAMAS!**

Constructive Criticism...

**I know :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi. This is a short filler chapter so this will be a short filler AN.**

**Disclaimer: We don't own PJO. I don't even own the laptop I'm using to write this...**

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Chapter 3

Day 2

"Hazel, of _course _I will wear this new tunic I had no say in making, _of course_,"Sofie said, her stained tunic already over her head.

"Yes, you will," Piper said, giving her a look.

"Isn't that what I just said?" Sofie asked innocently, yet reluctantly pulling the blue, stained tunic off her body.

"No belts, ladies... Or should I say _gentlemen?_" Sofie said, emphasizing '_gentlemen'_, "We're not girls anymore..."

"Thanks for going there, Sofie," Piper snapped, yet reluctantly putting her length of rope that barely passed for a belt away.

"Now let's hurry up," Annabeth said, trying to pull Sofie out the door as if she were a young child.

"One, I am not a little kid, I DON'T need to _hold your hand_. Two, we need boy names because a _boy_ named Annabeth is not very convincing," Sofie stated, melting out of Annabeth's grip.

"Oh! Of course! How could I forget something like that!" Annabeth exclaimed, then holding up her hand that was gripping Sofie with an expression like _how did she get away?_

"You forgot because you never had to live as a boy. My name was Soren, when I was with the monks," Sofie said, a proud expression on her face.

"I'll be... Hector..." Hazel decided, pulling on her borrowed (not really) boy sandals.

"I'll be Andrew," Annabeth decided, shoving the helmet on her head.

"Marcus, I choose you!" Monica shouts, proving Sofie's claim that she was almost as crazy as herself.

"Okay... And I'll be... Philip..." Piper chose, attempting to pat down Sofie's wild hair.

"Now, let's go!" Sofie shouted, charging out the door, Monica in tow.

"We better follow them," Hazel said. She seemed to be the only sane 13 year old in sight.

* * *

"Can. This. Line. Be. Any. Slower?!" Sofie exclaimed, yanking the ends of her short hair in mock exasperation.

"Yes, you could be shoved to the back," Monica said, attempting to shove Sofie. It only resulted in her arm getting grabbed and being pulled off balance into Sofie's knee.

"Ow," Monica complained, nonchalantly tugging on a loose string from her tunic, "I keep forgetting your fighting style is very different and that you have a lot of experience in hand-to-hand combat,"

"G- Boys... Just stop," Annabeth scolds, shoving Monica in a playful, boyish manner.

"Yes, mother," Sofie and Monica sneered, their words dripping in sarcasm.

Annabeth nodded at the two in a subtle 'good job' way. "I can't wait to start fighting," she stated loudly. "Can the people at the front go any faster?"

The boy in front of them in line turned to look at them at curiously. "Who are you? I haven't seen you before."

"We're new," Annabeth interjected quickly before anyone else could say something too weird to be boyish. "I'm Andrew."

"Philip."

"Marcus."

"Hector."

"Soren." Sofie managed to sound sane. Annabeth took a deep breath of relief, but then almost choked when she added: "And blood is the coolest color when it dries, don't you agree?"

"... I guess... I haven't had much experience with dried blood... Have you?" The boy said. "I'm Peter, by the way,"

"Yeah... These idiots," Sofie said, indicating towards the others, "Can't always block a sword... It's actually very sad,"

"Says you!" Monica defended, "You can't even hold a dagger right!"

"Well, that's because I never got dagger training until recently. However... I know how to maneuver weapons you _never even knew existed!" _Sofie retorted, and Monica's face distorted with the memories of those said weapons.

"Right... Those are scary looking..." Monica grumbled.

"Girls! Look in front of you!" Piper scolded

"You... Just called them girls," Peter said.

"Uh... It's because they're acting like girls..." Piper responded, slightly embarrassed at her slip of the tongue.

"Hey!" Monica and Sofie shouted, indignant, attempting to hold up the façade of being boys.

"Anyways, time to sign up," Piper said, Annabeth and Hazel already out of line.

"Right..." Sofie said, walking up to the scribe.

"Name," The scribe drawled, obviously bored.

"Soren Milos," Sofie said, no stutter in her words, as if she was practiced in saying that name.

"Good," The scribe drawled, turning to Monica, "Name,"

"M-Marcus Paros," Monica said, slight stutter, as if trying out a new name for the first time.

"Fine," The scribe said, in a very monotone voice, "Name,"

"Philip McLean," Piper said, suddenly remembering that Sofie Milos had actually been Soren Milos for about 6 years.

"Good," The scribe said, completely ignoring her afterwards. Turning to Peter, "Name,"

"Let's go. We have to practice, the competition is _tomorrow," _Hazel said, leading the girls back to Mali's house.

* * *

**How was dat? I liked it. ** Me too! **WHAT DID YOU PEOPLE THINK?**

**Tell us, below! *Indicates towards the review box thingy*  
**

That was a lovely way to say CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM!


	4. Chapter 4

**This is in the boys 3rd person perspective... AKA they're not in on the BIG SECRET... And don't you people go tell them!**

**Disclaimer: We don't own PJO, because I am a whale...** So neither of us were allowed to own PJO because she is a whale. **CURSE MY WHALE-NESS****  
**

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Chapter 4

Day 3

Percy sat down at his seat in the judges pavilion. He could see everything, the side where the competitors would come out, the side where the legionnaires would come out to fight with the competitors. The scribe stood up and cleared his throat and a very annoying way.

"First we have..." The scribe announced, as if he were important, "George Thera,"

Jason, Frank, Leo and Nico slowly walked into the judges pavilion, trying not to be noticed.

"Sorry we're late," Jason apologized, "We were talking to some competitors,"

"It's fine, just sit down and watch, we have to choose the new legionnaires," Percy replied.

The boys faces contorted with disgust as George was easily beaten by the legionnaire who he was fighting in hand-to-hand combat. Poor George limped off the field, not even making it to the weapons combat.

"Yeah... He's not making it..." Leo whispered to the scribe, who wrote down that George would not be accepted into the legion.

The boys watched from the judging pavilion. The competitors were easily taken down. Broken, bloodied and humiliated, they left the arena in a constant stream of shattered pride. Their dreams of being a legionnaire crushed.

"Andrew Chase," The scribe announced, his conceited voice painfully drilling holes into the boys ears.

A somewhat short blond boy, like Jason, came out. He was extremely agile and fast. He walked up to the legionnaire and looked at him. They started fighting, Andrew slipped in and out of the way of the legionnaire's limbs, like a snake slithering on the ground. After about five minutes, after the amount of time the other competitors were completely finished, the trained legionnaire was on his back, completely dumbfounded.

"He's in," Percy whispered to the scribe, who made a note next to Andrew's name. Andrew walked back out the way he came, muted cheering came from behind.

"Hector Levesque," The scribe said, having trouble pronouncing the _Levesque_ of Hectors last name. Serves him right for trying to act like nobility.

Hector looked like he was practically shaking with nerves, giving the legionnaire a weak smile.

They engaged in combat. It was very interesting, Hector darted around like a bird, as if a small child was simply playing a game. He was very light on his feet, as if he was used to not touching the ground during combat. He managed to be everywhere at once, smacking the legionnaire around the head, trapping the knee and even boxing the ears. The legionnaire just couldn't handle it, at the next strike, he sank to the ground in defeat. Hector stood, looking slightly bashful.

"He's in too," Frank told the scribe.

"Soren Milos," the scribe announced. A boy around Hectors age came bouncing out, as if he was actually excited. Soren seemed to wear a slightly maniacal look, the legionnaire he was facing started to look very scared, after watching his friends being beaten. Also the fact that Soren looked mentally disturbed.

"Be afraid," Soren said, another crazy smile plastered on his face, and they began.

From the way Soren was fighting, it seemed as if he were made of liquid. He melted out of reach of strikes like water and his own didn't seem to pack a lot of power, but the legionnaire contorted with pain every time. After a couple of minutes, the legionnaire seemed to catch on to Soren's style. Of course, once the legionnaire caught on, Soren completely changed the way he was fighting. Instead of being fluid and relaxed, he tensed up. He attacked as if he were a wild animal, a tiger maybe? He trapped the legionnaire's knee and the legionnaire fell to the ground.

"I said be afraid. I hope you are," And with that, Soren helped the legionnaire up. The legionnaire seemed to need to hit Soren, so he tried to strike him from behind. Soren jerked around and grabbed his wrist and the legionnaires face hit knee.

"Don't mess with me," Soren said, the first time a deadly glare replaced his smile. The legionnaire cowered in fear.

"Definitely in," Leo commented to the scribe.

"Uh... Next we have... Marcus Paros," The scribe announced, completely losing his professional air. Another younger boy walked out, he seemed to know Soren because he wore the crazed person look as well.

He walked up to the new legionnaire he was facing and smiled. After seeing what Andrew, Hector and Soren had done to the previous legionnaires, the new one was completely unnerved.

Marcus had no specific way of fighting. Once, he fought like a trained legionnaire. The next moment, he fought like wounded animal, with all her power poured into the strikes. Next, he practically flew around like a bird. The legionnaire pretty much gave up halfway through the fight. The next time he was hit, he fell to the ground in defeat.

"Yep. He's in too. What's with all the good people in a row?" Leo asked.

"They probably know each other," Frank replied.

"Philip McLean," The scribe announced.

A nervous looking boy walked out, his eyes seemed to change colors with each step. Each step gave him confidence. As he stood in front of the legionnaire, he flashed a confident smile and the legionnaire froze, as if entranced by it. Every so often during the fight, Philip seemed to whisper something like a command and the legionnaire immediately responded. After a bit of this, Philip got in the final strike and the legionnaire sat in defeat.

"He's in," Jason decided.

"Peter Rhodes," The scribe announced next. That is pretty much the day of the boys. They sat around, watching the fight and deciding the fate of wanting plebeians.

* * *

"I'm bored," Leo groaned, fiddling with some bit of metal. "When will this competition be done?"

"It was done fifteen minutes ago," Jason replied.

"Well why didn't you tell me?" Leo asked accusingly.

"You were too busy fiddling with that bit of metal to listen!" Percy interjected over Frank's head.

"Can you people stop shouting?" Frank asked, shoving the arguing boys away from each other.

"No!" Percy and Leo shouted back. Jason had shut up.

"We have recruits to train," Jason piped up.

"Fine," The boys grumbled, walking into the arena to train the newcomers.

* * *

**Okay, I have no idea what happened at the end. The boys just kinda took over. Maybe some comedic relief?**

**Woah, it's been a loooonnnnggg time... Sorry again :P**

**Constructive CRITICISM AND I AM OFF TO SLEEP!**


End file.
